{"id":2155722,"date":"2025-11-14T05:04:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T05:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2155722"},"modified":"2025-11-14T05:04:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T05:04:04","slug":"mark-strong-lesley-manville-are-ferocious-in-pulse-pounding-broadway-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/mark-strong-lesley-manville-are-ferocious-in-pulse-pounding-broadway-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Strong, Lesley Manville are ferocious in pulse-pounding Broadway tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F11%2F115335520.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tTheater review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tOEDIPUS\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 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stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--half\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>2 hours, no intermission. At Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Old \u201cOedipus\u201d wouldn\u2019t seem an ideal candidate for modernization.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to imagine the jaw-dropping fate of the legendary Theban king befalling any politician today. And even if his sticky situation were to somehow happen to an average Joe, it would go down as the greatest episode of \u201cMaury\u201d ever.<\/p>\n<p>But British writer-director Robert Icke has wrestled Sophocles into 2025, breathtakingly so, with his starkly intense revival from London starring Lesley Manville and Mark Strong that opened Thursday night at Studio 54 on Broadway.<\/p>\n<p>It works. It just works.<\/p>\n<p>Although Oedipus is poised to become prime minister of the UK on the eve of an election in Icke\u2019s telling, contemporary parallels to global politics abound.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Most of them have been baked into this ancient story for more than 2,000 years, and only needed to be coaxed out by the brilliant mind behind \u201cThe Doctor\u201d and Park Avenue Armory\u2019s \u201cOresteia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The opponents of Oedipus (Strong) have questioned the circumstances surrounding his birth. Sound familiar? And an age gap with wife Jocasta (Manville), a la France\u2019s Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, raises our brows.<\/p>\n<p>The somber recollection of a tragic mishap late in the play brings to mind Ted Kennedy and Chappaquiddick.<\/p>\n<p>And so, almost instantly, we\u2019re unbothered by the fact that characters with funny names like Creon are wearing business suits and watching the news.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Mark Strong and Lesley Manville star in \u201cOedipus\u201d on Broadway. <span class=\"credit\">Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From the off, Strong makes an imposing Oed. Granted, he\u2019s far more robust than most of Britain\u2019s mousy prime ministers of recent years. Keir Starmer\u2019s practically Dilbert. But in the myth, the man\u2019s a king.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The actor, who was astonishing as Eddie Carbone in Ivo van Hove\u2019s \u201cA View From the Bridge\u201d in 2015, splits the difference. He is both regal and breakably real.<\/p>\n<p>And he smolders with Manville\u2019s Jocasta, even if, gulp, he probably shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Manville, miraculously making her Broadway debut after a long career of sterling performances in the UK and as Princess Margaret on \u201cThe Crown,\u201d starts off as the ideal spouse of a statesman \u2014 making the operation run smoothly, relaxing her stressed hubby and staying stern yet warm.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What makes Jocasta such a live wire is her subtle undercurrent of concern; deep down she knows today will be the worst day of her life.<\/p>\n<p>After the blind prophet Tiresias tells Oedipus his fortune, there is palpable worry in Manville\u2019s portrayal, like a crystal glass that\u2019s been placed on the edge of a busy bar.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Manville plays Oedipus\u2019 wife Jocasta as a live wire. <span class=\"credit\">Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While Icke is an artist who grabs hold of bold theatricality, his smartest change-ups are human ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He presents Oedipus as a kind, if ambitious, father to his daughter Antigone and sons Eteocles and Polynices. The latter two aren\u2019t actually in the original, only in other Theban plays.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Their characters are added here to paint a picture of a sweet, supportive family unit that\u2019s minutes away from being obliterated. The kids\u2019 presence makes the ending hurt just as much as it shocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Oedipus\u2019 mother, Merope, is also thrown in for gravitas and a little dash of suspense. There has to be one or two people who still don\u2019t know how this millennia-old tale plays out, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s tenderly and hauntingly played by Anne Reid as a woman harboring a dangerous secret. Everyone in \u201cOedipus\u201d is lying \u2014 little white lies, they think \u2014 and the result ain\u2019t great. To say the least.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Writer-director Robert Icke has amped up the family dynamic of \u201cOedipus,\u201d making the tragedy all the more shattering. <span class=\"credit\">Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Reid, Strong and Manville are transfixing as awful revelation after revelation comes to light. Strong\u2019s nice guy gives way to brutishness and boiling blood, and Manville\u2019s heretofore stalwart Jocasta crushingly crumples when the grotesque truth is finally revealed.<\/p>\n<p>I do wish \u201cOedipus\u201d was put on somewhere other than huge and drafty Studio 54, which hardly ever suits plays. The audience is on the edge of their seat in interest, yes, but also to hear.<\/p>\n<p>The crowd was unquestionably rapt, though, and eerily silent in a way that Broadway audiences rarely are.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The play is a thrilling two hours. <span class=\"credit\">Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I also wasn\u2019t convinced by a rushed final flashback sequence that, besides underlining the sadness of what just went down, is likely meant as a cool-down exercise after a hard five minutes. It doesn\u2019t need to be there.<\/p>\n<p>But what\u2019s 60 seconds after two thrilling hours?<\/p>\n<p>Most of the play takes place in real time in Oedipus\u2019 sleek living room. And Icke puts a pulse-pounding clock onstage that counts down to the election results. But we all know it\u2019s leading up to much more than that.<\/p>\n<p>Oedipus is\u00a0100% certain he\u2019s going to win.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We know full well he\u2019s going to lose, big time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And, as always, everybody\u2019s eyes will be opened.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theater review OEDIPUS 2 hours, no intermission. At Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St. Old \u201cOedipus\u201d wouldn\u2019t seem an ideal candidate for modernization.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to imagine the jaw-dropping fate of the legendary Theban king befalling any politician today. And even if his sticky situation were to somehow happen to an average Joe, it would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2155723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[344468,21741,403224,412771,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-2155722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-broadway","tag-entertainment","tag-lesley-manville","tag-mark-streit","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Mark-Strong-Lesley-Manville-are-ferocious-in-pulse-pounding-Broadway-tragedy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2155722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2155724,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155722\/revisions\/2155724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2155723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2155722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2155722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2155722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}